Victoria and Albert Museum facts for kids
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied art (decorative arts and design). Named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, it was founded in 1852.
The V&A has a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It covers 12.5 acres (5 hectares) and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, in virtually every medium, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The museum is sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
The museum possesses the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, the holdings of Italian Renaissance items are the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection, with the Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is amongst the largest in the world.
The V&A is in what is called London's "Albertopolis", an area of immense cultural, scientific and educational importance. Near it are the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Imperial College, the Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial.
Since 2001, the Museum has embarked on a major £150m renovation program which has seen a major overhaul of the departments including the introduction of newer galleries, gardens, shops and visitor facilities. As with other national UK museums, admission to the museum is free.
Images for kids
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Henry Cole, the museum's first director
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New entrance and courtyard on Exhibition Road, opened 2017
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Image depicting Lord Parshvanatha, India, 7th Century
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Image depicting Lord Rishabhanatha dated 9th century, India
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Great Bed of Ware, one of the largest beds of the world
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Room 46b; Cast Court—Plaster Cast of "Porta Magna" of San Petronio Basilica, Bologna by Jacopo della Quercia
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Room 46a; Cast Court—Plaster Cast of the 'Pórtico da Gloria' in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
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Cast Court—Plaster copy of Trajan's Column
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Maiolica dish with a childbirth scene, Urbino, c. 1546
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Flower pyramid, Delft, c. 1695
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The Luck of Edenhall, glass beaker, Syria, 13th century
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1912 Lucile evening dress
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The Burghley Nef—Silver-gilt salt cellar, France, 1527–28
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Botticelli—Portrait of a Lady known as Smeralda Brandini, 1470-1475
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Rembrandt—The Departure of the Shunammite Woman, c. 1640
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Tintoretto—Self-Portrait as a Young Man, c. 1548
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Raphael—The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, 1515
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Raphael—St Paul Preaching in Athens, 1515
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Donatello—One of the finest surviving examples of Donatello's work in rilievo schiacciato
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Andrea della Robbia—Adoration of the Magi
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Canova—Theseus
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George Gilbert Scott—Screen from Hereford Cathedral, 1862
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John Constable—View of Salisbury Cathedral, 1823
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J. M. W. Turner—Venice from the Giudecca, 1840
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François Boucher—Madame de Pompadour, Mistress of Louis XV, 1758
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Nicolas Lancret—The Swing, 1735
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Sandro Botticelli - Portrait of a Lady Known as Smeralda Brandini, c. 1475
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Pietro Perugino— The Nativity; the Virgin, Saint Joseph and the Shepherds adoring the Infant Christ
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Giovanni Battista Tiepolo— St Leo in Glory
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Canova—The Three Graces, 1814–1817
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Room 22—Sculpture 1600–1870, Canova—Theseus and the Minotaur
See also
In Spanish: Museo de Victoria y Alberto para niños